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Google Fiber Launches Construction in Las Vegas

2025-01-22
Google Fiber Launches Construction in Las Vegas

Google Fiber has officially begun network construction in Las Vegas, starting on the west side of the city with expansion to other parts of Clark County in the coming months. This follows agreements reached in 2024 with the City of Las Vegas and Clark County. Google Fiber is committed to minimizing disruption during construction and plans to offer service in parts of the metro area later this year. Nevada residents and businesses will have access to Google Fiber's plans, boasting speeds up to 8 gigabits and prices unchanged since 2012.

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(fiber.googleblog.com)
Tech Google Fiber Las Vegas Network Construction

Infinite World Generation: An Improved Wave Function Collapse Algorithm

2025-01-18
Infinite World Generation: An Improved Wave Function Collapse Algorithm

This article details a fast, deterministic, parallelizable, and reliable method for generating infinite cities using an improved Wave Function Collapse (WFC) algorithm. The author addresses previous limitations such as non-determinism, memory leaks, and single-threadedness. The new approach generates infinite worlds by pre-generating tiled maps and replacing blocks at runtime, adapting to arbitrary heightmaps, resulting in stunning visuals.

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(marian42.de)
Game Wave Function Collapse Infinite World Generation

Pi-hole v6 Released: Performance Boost and Revamped UI

2025-02-18

Pi-hole v6 is here! This release features a major overhaul, integrating an embedded web server and REST API, eliminating lighttpd and PHP for improved performance and a smaller footprint. New features include support for subscribed allowlists, a consolidated configuration file, a redesigned user interface with basic and expert modes, native HTTPS support, and an Alpine-based Docker image for reduced size. The upgrade automatically migrates configurations, but backing up is recommended.

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(pi-hole.net)
Development network filtering

Supercharge SQLite with Ruby Functions

2025-01-27

This article demonstrates how to enhance SQLite's capabilities by integrating Ruby functions. The author creates User-Defined Functions (UDFs) to directly call Ruby code within SQL queries, enabling features like generating time-ordered UUIDs, performing regex matching, and calculating statistical measures (e.g., standard deviation and percentiles). The article also explores using the SQLITE_DIRECTONLY flag to prevent issues when accessing custom functions outside the application's process. Overall, this provides a powerful way to boost SQLite's flexibility and functionality, particularly useful for data exploration and analysis.

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(blog.julik.nl)
Development

SimpleWall: A Lightweight Alternative to Windows Firewall

2025-02-22
SimpleWall: A Lightweight Alternative to Windows Firewall

SimpleWall is a lightweight (<1MB) Windows firewall alternative compatible with Windows 7 SP1 and later. Based on the Windows Filtering Platform (WFP), it lets users create custom network rules, block Windows telemetry, and supports features like WSL. It boasts a simple interface, supports permanent and temporary rules, and requires manual filter disabling upon uninstallation. SimpleWall works independently of Windows Firewall and is free and open-source.

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(github.com)
Development windows

Apple Reveals the Limits of Large Language Model Reasoning

2025-06-16
Apple Reveals the Limits of Large Language Model Reasoning

Apple's new paper, "The Illusion of Thinking," challenges assumptions about Large Language Models (LLMs). Through controlled experiments, it reveals a critical threshold where even top-tier LLMs completely fail at complex problems. Performance doesn't degrade gradually; it collapses. Models stop trying, even with sufficient resources, exhibiting a failure of behavior rather than a lack of capacity. Disturbingly, even when completely wrong, the models' outputs appear convincingly reasoned, making error detection difficult. The research highlights the need for truly reasoning systems and a clearer understanding of current model limitations.

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(leotsem.com)
AI

From Aegospotami Meteorite to Socrates' Death: A Millennial Clash Between Science and Superstition

2025-09-01
From Aegospotami Meteorite to Socrates' Death: A Millennial Clash Between Science and Superstition

This article recounts the story of a meteorite that fell in Greece in the 5th century BCE, validating the philosopher Anaxagoras' theory about the composition of celestial bodies. This event, similar in impact to the confirmation of Einstein's theory of relativity, shook the world view of the time. The article traces the development of early scientists from Thales to Anaxagoras, who challenged creation myths and pioneered scientific inquiry. It explores Parmenides' discovery of the moon's reflection of sunlight, and Anaxagoras' scientific explanation of solar eclipses. However, this scientific progress sparked religious and political backlash, leading to Anaxagoras' exile and ultimately Socrates' execution. The article explores the conflict between scientific advancement and societal conservatism, and its impact on the development of human thought and belief, ultimately highlighting the complex relationship between scientific progress and belief in supernatural forces.

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(drb.ie)
Tech Ancient Greek Philosophy Science and Religion

Wikipedia's Gaps and the Power of Paid Editors

2025-03-31

Wikipedia relies entirely on volunteers, leading to gaps in content. Areas like Science, Technology, Engineering, and Finance are under-represented, as is content from non-English speaking countries. Hundreds of thousands of high-quality articles remain untranslated. Targeted funding could significantly address these issues. However, even paid editors need autonomy and ownership to maintain quality; they edit under their own accounts and are responsible for maintaining their contributions.

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(oka.wiki)
Misc content gaps paid editors

A Hilariously Wrong History of Robotics

2025-06-20
A Hilariously Wrong History of Robotics

This humorous article recounts the history of robotics, from Da Vinci's mechanical knight to today's humanoid robots, covering the rise and fall of artificial intelligence. It's peppered with anecdotes, such as Westinghouse's Elektro robot and the cutthroat competition following Google's robotics acquisitions. It boldly predicts the future of robotics, including robots replacing programmers and AI's eventual dominance.

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(generalrobots.substack.com)
Tech

Amazon Chime Shutdown Announced for February 2026

2025-02-20
Amazon Chime Shutdown Announced for February 2026

Amazon has announced the end of support for its communications service, Amazon Chime, including Business Calling, effective February 20, 2026. New customer sign-ups will cease on February 19, 2025. Existing customers can continue using Chime until February 20, 2026, after which all features will be unavailable. Amazon recommends migrating to alternative collaboration solutions such as AWS Wickr or partner offerings from Zoom, Webex, and Slack.

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(aws.amazon.com)
Tech Collaboration

Budget Watch Survives Deep Sea Test, Reveals History of Underwater Espionage

2025-01-31
Budget Watch Survives Deep Sea Test, Reveals History of Underwater Espionage

A $15 Casio F91W watch, after a simple oil-filling modification, was successfully taken to nearly 5,000 meters underwater by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and returned intact. This incredible feat highlights the surprising pressure resistance of inexpensive equipment and underscores the long and secretive history of deep-sea espionage. From Cold War submarine recovery operations to modern-day sabotage of undersea cables, the deep ocean has served as a critical—and often unseen—battleground for intelligence gathering and covert actions. The article explores both historical incidents like Operation Ivy Bells and recent events, emphasizing the growing sophistication of underwater warfare and the challenges of attribution.

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(www.watchesofespionage.com)
Tech Deep Sea Exploration Espionage

Civilization VII System Requirements: Can Your Rig Handle It?

2025-01-28

Nine years after Civ VI, Civilization VII is finally on the horizon! The minimum and recommended system requirements have been revealed. Minimum specs include an Intel i5-4690 or equivalent, 8GB RAM, a GTX 1050 or equivalent, and 20GB of storage. Recommended specs bump up to an Intel Core i5-10400 or AMD Ryzen 5 3600X, 16GB RAM, an RTX 2060 or equivalent. The article highlights that the game is CPU-heavy, making a CPU upgrade a priority for optimal performance. Are you ready to build your empire?

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(www.corsair.com)
Game Civilization VII System Requirements

The Unexpected Boom in American High School Shop Classes

2025-03-03
The Unexpected Boom in American High School Shop Classes

US school districts are investing tens of millions of dollars to revamp and expand high school shop classes, focusing on hands-on work with wood, metal, and machinery. These programs emphasize practical skills, offering students access to lucrative, often overlooked, careers in a digital age. School officials believe this vocational training broadens career prospects for students, regardless of their college plans.

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(www.wsj.com)
Tech vocational education shop class revival manual skills

UCLA Scientists Wake Up Dormant Hair Follicles, Promising a Cure for Baldness

2025-02-07
UCLA Scientists Wake Up Dormant Hair Follicles, Promising a Cure for Baldness

UCLA scientists have developed PP405, a small molecule that reactivates dormant hair follicles, offering a potential cure for baldness. Nearly a decade of lab work culminated in promising 2023 human trials, showing topical application of PP405 stimulates growth of healthy, full-length hair, unlike other treatments. Led by three researchers, the breakthrough has spurred the creation of a company backed by Google Ventures to pursue further trials and FDA approval, offering hope for millions suffering from hair loss.

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(newsroom.ucla.edu)
Tech hair loss hair follicle regeneration

Kremlin's Assassination Plot Against Investigative Journalist Foiled

2025-03-07
Kremlin's Assassination Plot Against Investigative Journalist Foiled

An investigative journalist exposed a chilling plot by the Kremlin to kidnap and possibly assassinate him. The plan, orchestrated by Russian security service operatives, involved forged documents, a clandestine route, and a violent attack, even considering the use of poison or explosives. Despite its meticulous planning, British authorities intervened, dismantling the criminal operation and bringing several suspects to justice.

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(theins.press)
Misc Kremlin assassination plot investigative journalist

EV Battery Degradation: Overblown Fears?

2025-08-18
EV Battery Degradation: Overblown Fears?

Concerns about short lifespan of EV batteries are widespread. This article debunks this myth, analyzing two types of battery degradation: calendar aging and cycle aging. Real-world data shows degradation is far slower than feared, especially after 20,000 miles. Studies of thousands of EVs show over 80% capacity retention even at 200,000 miles. Manufacturer warranties of 8-10 years or 100,000 miles further support this. While degradation is unavoidable, mitigating factors include avoiding extreme temperatures, charge levels, and frequent fast charging. In short, anxieties around EV battery life are largely overblown; they last far longer than many believe.

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(www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com)
Tech Battery Degradation

PostgreSQL Anonymizer: Declarative Data Masking for Postgres

2025-01-17

PostgreSQL Anonymizer is a powerful database extension enabling declarative definition of data masking rules directly within the database schema. It supports multiple masking methods including static, dynamic masking, and anonymous dumps, offering various masking functions like randomization, faking, partial scrambling, and custom functions. Designed for anonymization-by-design, it protects sensitive data like PII and commercially sensitive information during development. The extension includes detection functions to suggest columns needing anonymization. Quick start via Docker, complete tutorials, and success stories from organizations like the French Public Finances Directorate General (DGFiP) and bioMérieux are provided.

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(postgresql-anonymizer.readthedocs.io)
Development Data Masking Anonymization

Hamburger Menus: A Decade Later, Are They Still Usable?

2025-06-17
Hamburger Menus: A Decade Later, Are They Still Usable?

A decade on, the hamburger menu is a ubiquitous navigation pattern. However, the old problems of hidden navigation persist: users overlook it, leading to increased task completion times and decreased satisfaction. While user recognition of the hamburger menu has improved, design risks remain. This article revisits early research findings, shares new research on hamburger menu recognizability, and offers visual design best practices for the hamburger icon. Research shows that the standard three-line icon, top-left placement, and clear labels improve hamburger menu usability. But the article cautions that hidden navigation always adds interaction cost and visible navigation should always be prioritized. Use them wisely, follow best practices, and always test with users.

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(www.nngroup.com)
Design Hamburger Menu

FCC Chair Brendan Carr: A Tech Regulatory Storm Brewing?

2025-01-21
FCC Chair Brendan Carr: A Tech Regulatory Storm Brewing?

Brendan Carr's ascension to FCC chair signals significant regulatory changes for the tech and media industries. His involvement in Project 2025, proposing limitations on Section 230 immunity for tech companies and content prioritization disclosures, foreshadows a stricter regulatory environment. He also plans to leverage the FCC's power to revoke spectrum licenses for networks violating the equal time rule. However, Trump's shift on TikTok complicates Carr's approach to national security threats posed by the app. His success hinges on securing support from other Republican commissioners.

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(www.theverge.com)
Tech Tech Regulation

Lessons Learned From Archiving 8,000 Family Slides

2025-01-27
Lessons Learned From Archiving 8,000 Family Slides

The author recounts the year-long project of digitizing and archiving over 8,000 family slides, inherited after her parents' passing. This unexpectedly emotional journey offered insights into her parents' lives and provided valuable lessons in family photography. Key takeaways include focusing on capturing interactions and daily life rather than just tourist snapshots, adding descriptive labels and location data, and improving photo quality through basic photography knowledge. The project highlights the importance of family photos not only as a legacy but also as a powerful tool for preserving cherished memories.

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(estherschindler.medium.com)
Misc family photos photography tips memory preservation

Toxic Legacy: Dried-Up Reservoir Reveals a Health Crisis

2025-03-20
Toxic Legacy: Dried-Up Reservoir Reveals a Health Crisis

Jesús displays infected spots on his hands caused by water pollution at the completely dry Endhó Dam reservoir. Independent scientific reports reveal the nearby soil contains numerous toxic substances dumped by chemical plants, causing skin allergies among residents. These include heavy metals like lead and mercury, arsenic, cyanide, nitrates, and other pollutants far exceeding environmental limits. Data suggests at least two generations of locals suffer from serious health issues, including cancer, kidney, and lung diseases.

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(mexicocitywater.longlead.com)
Misc health crisis

Bypassing Specialization in Rust: A Clever Use of Function Pointers

2025-07-20
Bypassing Specialization in Rust: A Clever Use of Function Pointers

While developing a Rust FAT driver, the author encountered a roadblock: specialization, currently unavailable in stable Rust. After unsuccessful attempts using macros and generic enums, a clever solution emerged: leveraging function pointers to emulate specialization. While this approach introduces some performance and memory overhead, it offers a viable workaround for specific scenarios, avoiding reliance on unstable features. The author concludes by advocating for the stabilization of specialization, as it promises a more efficient and cleaner solution.

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(oakchris1955.eu)
Development function pointers

Bye Bye, Paid Note-Taking Apps: Building My Secure & Private Knowledge Vault

2025-05-18
Bye Bye, Paid Note-Taking Apps: Building My Secure & Private Knowledge Vault

Tired of privacy concerns and high costs associated with commercial note-taking apps, the author decided to build their own secure, private, and lasting Personal Knowledge Management System (PKMS). They share their journey from Obsidian to a self-hosted PKMS, emphasizing data security and control. The system uses the open-source platform Directus and stores notes in Markdown, enabling easy cross-device access and data migration. While seemingly complex, the author argues the process is surprisingly simple and encourages others to build their own knowledge vaults for better knowledge management.

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(amberwilliams.io)
Development Personal Knowledge Management Knowledge Vault

1787 Constitution Signing: A Dawn or Dusk?

2025-02-22
1787 Constitution Signing: A Dawn or Dusk?

September 17, 1787 marked the end of the US Constitutional Convention. Despite three delegates refusing to sign, Franklin's heartfelt speech and Washington's support secured the Constitution's passage. A proposal to increase the size of the House of Representatives passed unanimously. However, the signing wasn't the final victory; the real challenge lay ahead in convincing the American people to embrace this new government, leaving its future uncertain.

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(www.nps.gov)
Misc US History Constitutional Convention US Constitution

Redis UNLINK vs DEL: A Deep Dive into Internal Mechanics

2025-01-21
Redis UNLINK vs DEL: A Deep Dive into Internal Mechanics

Both Redis' UNLINK and DEL commands remove keys, but their internal implementations differ. DEL synchronously deletes keys and frees memory, while UNLINK asynchronously queues the deletion for background processing. UNLINK's 'non-blocking' nature isn't absolute; it calculates the cost of deleting an object: if the cost is less than 64, it deletes synchronously; otherwise, asynchronously. The article delves into the Redis source code, explaining the implementation details of UNLINK and DEL, including key slot calculation, two-phase unlinking, and asynchronous deletion, and discusses the role of LAZYFREE_THRESHOLD.

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(www.pankajtanwar.in)
Development

Ancient DNA Rewrites the Story of the First Americans

2025-03-21
Ancient DNA Rewrites the Story of the First Americans

Genetic studies are revolutionizing our understanding of how the Americas were first populated. Analysis of ancient DNA from remains across the continent, including a remarkably well-preserved 24,000-year-old Siberian boy, reveals a more complex picture than previously thought. Rather than a single migration from East Asia, multiple waves of migration from diverse Asian populations, including groups related to both Ancient North Siberians and East Asians, contributed to the genetic makeup of Native Americans. Some groups may have experienced a prolonged period of isolation in Beringia before migrating south. The findings also highlight genetic links between early Americans and ancient Japanese populations, painting a richer and more nuanced picture of the peopling of the Americas.

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(factsanddetails.com)
Tech

A Faster Quantum Fourier Transform Algorithm

2025-01-27
A Faster Quantum Fourier Transform Algorithm

Ronit Shah presents an improved algorithm for the Quantum Fourier Transform (QFT). Traditionally, approximate QFT requires Θ(n log n) gates, and exact QFT requires Θ(n²) gates. The new algorithm, leveraging a novel recursive partitioning of qubits, reduces the cost of approximate QFT to Θ(n(log log n)²) gates and exact QFT to Θ(n(log n)²) gates. This breakthrough promises significant efficiency gains in quantum computation.

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(arxiv.org)
Tech quantum fourier transform algorithm optimization

DistroWatch Weekly: Adelie and Pop!_OS Updates, Plus Facebook Bans Linux Links

2025-01-27

This week's DistroWatch Weekly covers updates to Adelie Linux 1.0 Beta 6 and Pop!_OS 24.04 Alpha 5. Adelie shows improvements in efficiency and multi-desktop environment support, but still faces networking and input device compatibility issues. Pop!_OS's COSMIC desktop boasts optimized window switching and settings panel, but suffers from high memory usage, broken video playback, and VPN setup problems. Additionally, Facebook's labelling of Linux as malware and subsequent ban on DistroWatch links sparks concern.

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(distrowatch.com)
Development desktop environments Facebook censorship
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